Skip to main content

Our Story


The idea of Seams French came around when my mom Elizabeth and I moved to Europe. It was about five years ago that I went off to grad school in the UK, while my parents decided to realize their dream of living in the south of France. I was studying contemporary art, and Elizabeth was developing her already considerable quilting skills by learning (and mastering) the techniques common to the region of Provence.

After two years I graduated and moved back to Canada to marry my beloved husband. We now live in Vancouver and absolutely love it! My parents live nearby in the same city for part of the year, but continue their French adventures on an annual basis.

Realizing that we work well together and have similar interests, Elizabeth and I have decided to begin our own sewing adventure. We consider it a bi-national effort of sorts, working together and separately as we see fit but constantly and enthusiastically. Elizabeth has developed her own line of fine linens which you can check out at www.seamsfrench.com, and loves the challenge of custom projects. I've taken a shine to quilting and have become the trusted apprentice, loving the process of colour selection, construction and the chance to learn a trade that so many of the women in my family have participated in at one time or other.

While Elizabeth is in France this blog is a way for us to communicate, but we're also hoping that other people who see this site and share similar interests will feel compelled to join in the conversation. Thanks for reading and happy threads!


-Leah Janzen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boutis: Traditional French Needlework

" Piqûre de Marseilles" or "Boutis" is a traditional French hand stitched and corded needlework technique, which uses embroidery stitches to create intricate channels that will later be stuffed with yarn, thereby creating a raised design with three layers. It's origins, and it's name, can be traced to the port of Marseilles in southern France to the 15th century. Traditional boutis was a technique invented to embellish otherwise plain white cotton with intricately patterned channels that would later be stuffed with a plump white yarn to give it relief. The resulting corded whitework created an elegant, embossed textile that was much sought after. Not only was it aesthetically appealing, but it also provided warmth and absorbency, so could be used for bed coverings, toilette linens (like towels), clothing items, home decor, etc. The first two photos below are from the collection of Mme. Monique Alphand, a well known French expert and collector of antique t...
3 comments
Read more

Amish Hand Quilting in France with Esther Miller

Esther Miller, was born into an Amish family in the U.S., and now lives in Germany where she has for many years taught the techniques and methods of Amish hand quilting to anyone interested in learning these skills. As a child, she would closely watch as the women of her community worked together on a quilt, and eventually she was rewarded with a needle of her own and encouraged to join the group. Through the years, she has mastered these skills and techniques and now generously shares them with anyone who has a genuine desire to learn. Esther Miller in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines in Alsace France. An example of her own work, Esther brings this intricately and perfectly hand stitched wall quilt to class as inspiration for her students.  Last week, at the "European Meeting of Patchwork" in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, in Alsace France, www.patchwork-europe.com , I had the privilege of taking a 2 day workshop with Esther. The Amish...
1 comment
Read more

Blocking and Squaring Boutis

The door of her cage has been opened. She is free to fly off and find her destiny. After many months of hand stitching and then many more months of cording, my little "colibri" is ready to set off on her own. As this was my first attempt at designing so large a boutis piece, it was a learning curve. All of the tight swirls, curls and circles are a great deal more difficult and time consuming to cord then are the longer more gentle channels. Maintaining an even tension is absolutely necessary throughout the process, so patience comes in very handy when doing the cording. The process of stitching and cording a work of boutis subjects the fabric to a lot of handling and manipulation that can distort the design. For this reason, once all of the stitching and cording is complete, the boutis must be washed, blocked and squared.  The first step of washing is to remove all traces of the marking pencil as well as any soil that may have collected over the many months of working w...
17 comments
Read more